Management at a Chinese decorations company are 'motivating' apparently unproductive employees to hit sales targets, by forcing them to choke down bitter squash in front of co-workers.
日前，中国一家装修公司的管理人员强迫绩效低下的员工在其他同事面前吃下苦瓜，这很明显是在“激励”其完成销售目标。
The unusual ritual has been brought in at Leshang Decorations Corporation in Chongqing, south-west China, in order to push them to work harder for success, according to People's Daily Online.
据《人民日报》报道，这一不同寻常的惩罚仪式发生在总部位于中国西南重庆的乐尚装修公司，目的是为了鞭策员工们努力工作以取得成功。
40 of the small corporation's 100 employees were forced to stand up in a recent staff meeting and bite pieces out of the bad-tasting vegetables, much to the amusement of their colleagues.
这家小公司有100名员工，而在最近的一场员工大会上，其中40人被强迫站到台上将难吃的苦瓜咬碎吞下，以供其他同事们取乐。

The company deliberately sought out the largest and most bitter squashes available on the market in order to give to most suffering to the 'lazy' employees, bringing a huge bundle into the office.
据悉，这家公司还故意在市场上搜寻最大、最苦的苦瓜，从而给这些“懒惰”的员工们以最痛苦的惩罚，最终他们采购了一大批苦瓜回公司。
Bitter squash, also known as bitter melon or bitter gourd, is a cucumber-shaped vegetable which is often used in Chinese dishes, but is only very rarely eaten raw due to its intensely bitter taste.
苦瓜，又称癞葡萄、凉瓜，是中国菜式中经常使用的、一种黄瓜形状的蔬菜，但是由于其强烈的苦味，很少生吃。
Employees told reporters from People's Daily that this is not the first time the corporation has imposed mandatory punishments for staff failing to meet targets. Staff had been forced into doing rounds of squats exercises, sprints around the office and push-ups, before managers decided to change their approach and introduce eating challenges.
员工们接受《人民日报》的记者采访时表示，这并不是公司第一次对未完成销售目标的员工实行强制性惩罚。这家公司的员工们曾经被强迫做下蹲、绕办公室跑和做俯卧撑等惩罚，后来管理者才决定改变方法，让员工们进行食物挑战。
Any employee not performing to 'expectations' will be given the punishment, and it is reported that around half of new recruits chose to leave the company due to pressures shortly after joining. One employee gave a list of reasons for why people made the decision to leave: their incapability to meet expectations, high pressure, low pay and of course shame caused by being punished in front of coworkers.
任何没有达到“期望”的员工将要遭受这项惩罚。据报道，由于这些压力，大约有一半新员工会在入职不久之后选择离开公司。一名员工将人们选择离开的原因列了出来：没有能力达到预期，压力太大，薪水太低，当然还有在同事面前受罚而导致的羞辱。
On Weibo, commenters were quick to voice their concerns about the strange practice.
在微博上，网友们很快表达了他们对这一举措的关切。
'If I were them, I would quit immediately. I won't give my time and energy to work for a company that doesn't even respect their employees,' one commenter wrote.
一名微博用户评论道：“如果我是他们，我会立刻辞职。我不会耗费我的时间和精力来为一个甚至不会尊重他们员工的公司工作。”
But another one denied it was a bad punishment, adding: 'I don't mind eating bitter gourd, it's tasty'.
但是另外一个人却不认为这是一个很坏的惩罚，他说道：“我不介意吃苦瓜，苦瓜很好吃。”